COVID-19 akin to Third World War, says Fashola

The Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, has likened the COVID-19 to Third World War that would be fought by medical personnel, drugs and research. He spoke yesterday in Port Harcourt while inspecting the Enugu-Port Harcourt expressway.

The minister said construction work would resume upon advice from scientists and health experts.Speaking on the challenges of the Covid-19 impacting on ongoing projects, Fashola said there were always trade-offs whenever human survival was challenged.

“First, development and survival sometimes cannot go together. The trade-off is to choose survival first. And those are the choices our government and the President are making. You have seen the cut in fuel price, certain expedition cuts by the Minister of Finance. There would be choices to make, “ he said.

The minister added: “”The contractor is on site. As long as construction is able to go on, under advice by the scientists and health experts, people continue to work because this is where some earn their daily living. We want them to keep that going.”

He stated that there was no cause to panic as government intends to prioritise its spending and investments to ensure that the most vulnerable people who work daily are able to continue their regular existence.

Fashola urged Nigerians to begin to improve on their waste collection and disposal. He stressed that this was also time to review many other practices such as burying people at home.

“It is not healthy if you are digging boreholes there. Humanity will survive but we hope it doesn’t come with too many casualties globally. They are counting people now but it is not just about the numbers. They are children, husbands, wives, parents sisters and brothers they are counting. We don’t want to be a part of that index. And there is a lot we can do if we take community and personal hygiene serious,” he added.